TC8 cinema policy unfair to consumers

The film was quite engrossing, with the plot developing nicely when, about 5.20 pm, the film froze. The lights came on and I and other patrons awaited the resumption of the film.

After five minutes, I exited the cinema to the lobby and informed an attendant about the problem. She spoke to the cinema manager, who came and assured me the problem would be taken care of in a few minutes.

I went back to my seat and another five minutes passed before the film was restarted from the beginning. At this point several patrons went in search of the manager, as no one wanted to sit through an hour of film we had seen before.

She returned and got the projectionist to fast forward to a point just before where it had stopped. To our great consternation, the film played up to the exact same point as before and froze again.

In disgust, we left the cinema and sought out the manager for a refund, only to be told they do not refund, that our options were 1) to go to another movie playing at that moment in the cinema complex, or 2) she would endorse the ticket for the same show at a different time and day, but could not say for how long the show’s run would be.

I asked for her superior and was told the head office is in Puerto Rico, but she did not have a phone number for them offhand.

Unbelievable.

Do the head honchos of this company know that our consumer protection laws make their no-refund policy illegal? I would like to know what the Consumer Affairs Division is doing about situations like this. How is it protecting all citizens? C JUTAGIR via email